Dispensing apparatus



March 8, 1932. w. E. BIHL ET AL 1,848,238

DISPENS ING APPARATUS Filed Aug. 26, 1926 2 Sheets-Sheet l uuauuaua March 8, 1932. w. E. BIHL ET AL DISPENSING APPARATUS Filed Aug. 26, 1926 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented- Mar. 8, 1932 V I 1,848,238 I a WILLIAM Bins. ANnAxEL. RAMGLAU, bFrCI-IICAGOQ ILLIN.0IS, Assrenonsjro r1to 1\r MOUNTAIN-00,1013. cHroAco, .I-LLINoIs, AconPoRArIonoE ILLINOIS nrsrnnsme Arrhnnrns i Application fi1ed'-August- 26, 1926. Serial'No. 131,634. The presentinvention relates. to dispensing apparatus.

.More. particular-13 the present, invention; relates to coin. controlled, apparatus. for dis- .a plane indicated bythearrows4-4 of Fig: ure 3:;and

Figures:.5 and 6 illustrate details of cone; struction. 1

V pensing; articlesandhas particular reference to. dispensing mechanism, adapted to be used in; connection with the refrigeration. and dispensing of bottles: of soft: drinks, bottles; of

milkaandthelikei. r a p m object; of. the-present invention isto providerniechanism. of improved; type for dispensing articles in response. tog-the. insertion ofa coim i 'A further object is to provider-coincon-v 3 trolled dispensing apparatus which is not. likely-to getout 'of orderandwhich;insures the owner of the. apparatus; against tllfillIl-j I authorizedi'withdrawal of the articlesto be dispensed. 1

5 g s A further object to provide: coin con;

trolledl dispensing apparatus having. relativelyrlarge; capacity, which requires. no 'particular carezonithe part of't'heattendantwhen charging Said pp s dwhichissimple noperation. r s i v A further object: ;is .to provide bottle. re-

trigerating and "dispensing. apparatus; which is well? adapted togmeet the needs of commer- .cial operation. l s

With: these and various other objects in novel" features ofconstruction and operation, aswill be more fully described" and particu-.

larly pointed out inthe specification, draw 'FigureQis a sectional view taken along a vertical plane, showingpart of theinte'-.

rior of the construction shown in Figure .1;

a horizontal plane, ind-icated by the arrows {of'Figure I, showing-part of the interior construction of the structure shown in rene r i? Figure 4 is a 'rsectionai viewtaken along the; insertionof articles tobe dispensed. One;

view,nthe invention may consist of certain.

1 Figure 3is; asectiorial view taken along.

Referring first; to Figure. 1,,the numeral '10 indicates a, casing, which may made:

ofsheet metal. Said casing may; be provided with doors for permittlng access to the Lilli/Q5- r1012. thereof for inspection, repairs, and; for:

of? the doors referred :toiis indicated lay-the numeral 11 and: is thedoor' through which; articles are: charged into. the apparatus.

The illustrated embodimentof the present f invention constitutes means: for. refrigerate w ing and dispensingbottles, as for example bottles containing; soft; drinks. The. door 1'11 ,is therefore of a size and shape freely-to ad mit soft drink. bottles.. j Near the bottom of;

thev casinglQis a panel 12, whichisremow ably secured to-said casing ;l0. "to -:per1n it; access -.-to the. refrigeratingrmeans '1(:no.t.. shown) ,L'which' means, may be a" refrigerating; machine." .1:

' Reterring'tQFigureB, it will benotedzthat the casinglOissprovided with heat insulating: 1 V packing 13.. A: portion .ofrone end wall' of said casing, indicated bythenumeral l4;

, removable, to permit ready; access tOE-tllEl l V teriorof said casing Symmetrically: dis-11 posed within-the casing 10. is-thezbrinez tanlii 15, which brine 'tankzcontainscooling fluid. Surrounding the. brine. tank; 15 is theramp 16, which provides a sloping surface: from a. region near; the top. of: the casing 10' to; a lower region disposed at a levelabove the: floor at which" a personof ordinary height. may convenientlyremove "articles from. said casing '10. Said ramp l6-maycbedescribed= s as having substantially helical "coniormati on,; 90,.

though: it is int'endedflin this-specification.

that, the term helical shall have abroader meaning than. its true mathematicalmeaning. and shall-include structures having. an eliip-Z tical or othergometric shape .in'ihorizontal 95. section J j Referring again to Figure 1-,bottles1nagt be inserted through the door IILan'dplaced upon the ramp 16. The window .1 7: may be: provided through which; bottles. .withimthe;

casing 10 may be observed. As bottles pass down the ramp 16 they are discharged in succession through the outlet opening 18 onto the base 19. The base 19 may be provided with arack (not shown) for supporting the bottles as they are deposited from said base 19. Located'at a convenient point the bottle cap remover 20, which cap remover may be of the ordinary conformation. Said cap remover 20 is preferably disposed directly above the base 19, whereby caps removed by said ca remover may drop through the rack in the ase 19 into the chute 21, whence they may drop into the drawer 22. Said drawer 22 may be opened at any time by an attendant, and the caps removed. The numeral 23 indicates a receptacle for straws, which re ceptacle may be positioned at a convenient height.

' The present invention contemplates positivemeans for moving the bottles down the ramp 16, which positive means is responsive to coin controlled apparatus which will be described in detail hereinafter. 16, as illustrated, comprises the straps 24, which are shaped to 'rovide a chute-way to hold bottles, indicated by the numeral 25, in a vertical position or in a position which'is nearly vertical. Said ramp may be supported by any preferred supporting means. Said straps 24 are held in proper relation to one another by means of the holding means 26,

whichmay be spaced at intervals along the ram 16. The lowermost of said straps 24 is disposed symmetrically of the bottles car-v ried thereby and offers very little friction to resist movementof saidbottles. Also carried by the supporting members 26 are a plurality of pulleys 27 disposed at intervals along the ramp 16, which pulleys form guiding means for a. cable 27 to cause said cable to follow more or less generally the contour of the ramp 16. I Said cable 27 is preferably an endless cable and has .sccured thereto the pusher 28. As indicated in Figures 3 and 5, the pusher 28 includes the member 29, having mounted thereon the roller bearings 303O adapted to have rolling engagement with one of the straps 24. Said member 29 is also provided with the upstanding member 31, adapted to engage the side of a bottle for pushing said bottle down the ramp 16. It will be understood that a line of bottles will be disposed upon the ramp, 16, and that by pushing against the uppermostof said bottles the whole line will be pushed downwardly toward the discharge outlet 18. The cable 27 is adapted to be moved by the sheave 32, placed intermediate of the length of the endless cable 27.

' Said sheave 32 is adapted to .be operated by the handle 33, which is connected through the shaft 34 to the clutch element 35, which clutch element is adapted to have clutching engagement with the clutch element 36. Said clutch element 36.is providedwith the pinion The ramp ment of the usher 28 and effect the discharge of a bottle rom the outlet opening 18. DIS- charge of abottle will automatically cause the disengagement of the clutch elements 35 and 36, whereby further rotation of the crank 33 will notefi'ect the discharge of another bottle until another coin has been inserted.

The mechanism for performing the functions immediately above referred to will now be described. Referring to Figures 3'and 4, the numeral 39 indicates a coin slot which coin slot is adapted to deliver the coin to the wheel40. Said wheel 40 comprises a pair of spaced plates 41--41, which plates are spaced apart asufiicientdistance to receive between them, flatwise, a coin such as is'intended to operate the mechanism. Disposed in the periphery of a circle between said plates 41-41 are the pins 42'-42, which pins 42 with the side plates 41 comprise a cage for the reception of the coin. The parts are so designed that the coin, which is indicated in Figure 4 bythe numeral 43, projectsradially a sufficient distanceto-engage the lever 44,:

which lever is pivoted upon the pin and is spring-pressed in a counter-clockwise direction bymeans which will be described presently. .It will be obvious that as the handle 33 is turned to rotate the shaft 34 in a clockwise direction as the parts are viewed'in Figure 4, the coin v43 will engage the upper extremity of the lever 44 to move said lever in a clockwise direction. Disposed to the left of the coin-slot39 as thepartslare viewed in Figure 4 is the stop plate 44a adapted to abut the coin 43 if a person, after inserting a coin, should turn the shaft 34 in a counterclockwise direction. Byreason of the provision of said stop plate 4411, the danger is averted that a person might by turning the handle 33 in the wrong direction have the coin drop out of operative position without operating the lever 44. Mounted near the lower extremity of the lever 44 is the stud 47 adapted to cooperatewith the lever 48, which lever 48 is pivoted about the pin 49 and is urged in a counter-clockwise direction by the spring 50, a stop 51 being provided for limiting the counter-clockwise movement of the lever'48. When the lever 44, is moved in abut against the extremity of the-stud. 4'1,

position: illustrated in Figure 4.

holdi-ngrj ther lever .44. from returning to the Thenumeral 52indicates a bell crank lever I pivotally mounted upon the pin 53. One arm 2 of said bell crank lever 52 is resiliently coni said spring 54 being disposed between said lever 44 and-said adjacent end of the bell crank lever 52. Nuts 54?; are disposed on the extremity of the pin 54a. The other arm of said bell crank lever 52' is provided with ayoke 55-, by means of which rotation of the bellcrank lever 52 willcoimnunicate axial movement to the clutch-element 35. 'The clutch elements 35. and 36 are urged apart by the coil spring :56, which coil spring, in a Y manner which will be obvious, insures thedisship to the g I numeral. 58 indicates a stopfor preventing ment of the link engagement of said clutch elements 35 and 36, except when it is intended that they shall be engaged, and insures the smooth engagement of said clutch elements 35 and 36in casesaid clutch elements are relationship with. one another.

i The numeral 56 represents a star wheel having three vanes .5757, whichvanes aresnccessivelydisposed in obstructing relation} bottles 25 upon the ramp 16. The

the turning of the star. wheel 56, except when said star wheel. should be ment therewith of a bottle to be discharged from'the machine. Said stop member '58 is ilhlstrated' in the form of a lever 59 pivoted upon the pin 60. One extremity of said lever 59-is' adapted to be disposed in obstructing relationship to'Tstar wheel 56.; The otherextremity ofsaid lever 59 is connected bymeans of rod 61 to the lever 44; lVhen has been moved in a clockwise direction following the insertion of bet-moved to the left as the partsare viewed in Figure 4, whereby the upper extremity of the lever 59 will be disposed out of obstructing relationship with the star wheel 56.

As each bottle 25. is moved in succession to the lowerextremity, of theiramp 16, it. is adaptedv to'dropupon a trap door 62. Said trap door 62 is providediwith the crank '63,

' which crank is connected to the lever 48 by- 64. The dropping of the cause a downward move- I 64, resulting in clockwise movementofthelever 48 in opposition to the spring the leftehand extremity of the lever 48 from stud 47 (.Fi-gu re 4) whereby the lever 44 may moveinto. the position shown in Figure '4, thereby completing the. cycle of. operation. I When the attendant of the. illustrated dispensing apparatus desires to charge bottles means of the link trap door 63 will o-fa shutter 65, spring-pressed to presented in non-meshing moved by engagesaid lever 44 a coin,the:rod 61 will '50. This movementwill disengage coin,fconnect the ,clutc helements 35 and in thema-nner above're ferredvto by turning 1 the shaft: 34 in a. clockwise direction; there-f after,by turning handle 33 ina direction to move: th-eshaft 34 1113 a counterclockwise direction, he may move the pusher 28' upto tom the upper region of theramp 16. ll'e; may their charge bottles into-said.dispens1ngapparatus one after another.

Attention is now directed to the structure illustratedin Figure 6. Before chargingbot tles into the apparatus, the attendant should,.

said pusher moved downwardly bythe coin,

controlled mechanism. Accordingly, the; present invention contemplates the provisionclosed position across the openingcontrolled by the doorway 11. Said shutter-is provided with. a-finger' 66 :adapted' to be, engagedby the member 31 or other When said pusher 28 limit o fits travel, saidpusher will, by reason of its engagement with the finger .66, posi-- tively more the shutter into the diagonal oiguiding position indicated in dotted, lines in Figure 6', in which the swinging edge of said shutter abuts against the inner strap 24. Said-shutter- 66 is curved about a vertical axis, and when saidshutter is in guidingposi-v lZlOIlyit serves as guide means for directing,

the. bottles in the proper direction onto-the ramp 16. When said shutter 65 is inclosed positiomas indicated in full lines in F i it will indicate to the attendant that pusher 28- 1811011111'165 uppermost position and that said pusher should be moved to said uppermost position before bottles are charged into the apparatus. If desired, a suitable warning may be placed upon said shutter 65. 7 After having charged the apparatus, the attendant will then turn the handle 33 in a direction to move the shaft 34 ina clockwise direction as the parts areviewed in Figure 4. Inasmuch asthe shutter 65 is springs pressed to closed position, it will close automatically when. the pusher 28is moved clownwardly. Inasmuch as the clutch elements 35 and 36 are in engagement, motion will be communicated" from saidv handle through clutch elements .35 and 36 to pinion 37 and gear 38 toturn the sheave 32. This action will move the cable the 27 whereby the pusher 28.

part .of'the pusher 28,-

ismoved to the upper" will move the line of bottles downwardly.

in its clockwise position, whereby 'the rod 61 will hold the lever 59 out ofobstructing relationship with .thestar wheel 56., Move- At this time the lever 44 will be held; t2 7 in a. clockwise direction, allowing thelever 44 to move to the position indicated in Figure 4. Such movement of the lever 44 will cause the clockwise movement of the bell crank lever 52, resulting in disengagement of clutch elements 35 and 36. The operator may then insert the bottle which he has dischargedback into the machine through the door 11 for storage purposes and may look said door 11.

When any person, desiring to secure a bottle,inserts a coin within the slot 39 and com-' municates a. turning movement to the handle 33 in a direction to move the shaft 34 in a clockwise direction, the coin, indicated by the numeral 43 in Figure 4, will cause the lever 44 to swing in a clockwise direction, resulting in the engagement of the clutch elements 35 and 36 as above described, whereby turning of the handle 33 will push the bottleonto the trap door 62, from which said bottle will drop through the outlet opening 18 onto the base 19 in a manner described above.- As also described above, the operation of the trap door, by reason of its connection with the lever 48, will interrupt the driving connection between the clutch elements 35 and 36. After each coin 43 has passed the upper extremity of the lever 44 it will drop out into a convenient coin receptacle, such a receptacle beingindicated in Figure 1 by the numeral-67.

Though a handle 33 has been illustrated for operating themechanism for moving the pusher 28, it will be clear that any other preferred motivemeans may be used if preferred. It should be noted, further, that the refrigerating and dispensing apparatus embodying the principles of the present invention permits dry, regulated refrigeration, delivering dry bottles.

It has beenfc'und in practice that ordinary soft drink bottles will slide with suflicient ease on the ramp 16, particularly with the speed reduction gears 37 and 38, so that no anti-friction bottles. Any such bearings may be used, of course, if preferred.

Though a preferred embodiment of the present inventionhas been described in detail, many modifications will occurto those skilled in the art. It is intended to cover all such modifications that fall within the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is 1. 'In' bottle dispensing apparatus, in combination,'a casing, a ramp enclosedwithin said casing for holding a plurality of articles thereon, coincontrolle'd means for posibearings are required for said tively moving said articles downwardly along said ramp, and means for positively checking the downward movement of said articles at the end of the operation of said last means.

2. In bottle dispensing apparatus, in combination, a casing, a ramp enclosed within said casing, moving means for positively moving articles downwardly along said ramp, motive means, means for checking downward movement of said articles at the end of operation of said first means, and coin controlled mechanism for connecting said motive means to said moving means.

3. In bottle dispensing apparatus, in combination, a casing, a ramp enclosed within said casing, means for positively moving articles downwardly along said ramp, motive means, coin-controlled mechanism for connecting said motive means to said moving means, and means responsive to the delivery of one of said articles from said apparatus for interrupting the operative connection between said motive means and said moving means.

4. In bottle dispensing apparatus, in combination, a casing, aramp enclosed within said casing, means for positively moving articles downwardly along said ramp, motive means, coin controlled mechanism for connecting said motive means to said moving means, means responsive to the delivery of, one of said articles from said apparatus for interrupting the operative connection between said motive means and said moving means, stop means for preventing the unauthorized delivery of articles from said apparatus, and means responsive to said coin controlled mechanism for governing said stop means.

5. In cooling and dispensing apparatus, in combination, a casing, a ramp disposed in said casing, a pushing member cooperatively associated with said ramp, an endless cable connected to said pushing means, means for moving said cable, said means including motive means and clutch means, and coin controlled mechanism for operating said clutch means to connect said motive means in operative relationship to the remainder of said cable moving means.

"6. In cooling and dispensing apparatus, in combination, a casing, a ramp disposed in said casing, a pushing member cooperatively associated with said ramp, an endless cable connected to said pushing means, means for moving said cable, said. means including motive means and clutch means, coin controlled mechanism for operating said clutch means to connect said motive means in operative relationship to the remainder of said cable moving means, and means responsive to the passage of an article along said ramp for rendering inoperative said cable moving means.

7. In cooling and dispensing apparatus, in

combination, a casing, a ramp disposed in said casmg, a pushing member cooperatively associated with said ramp,-an' endless cable connected to said pushing means, means for moving said cable, said means including motive means and clutch means, coin controlled mechanism for operating said clutch means to connect said motive means in operative relationship to the remainder of said cable mov-' ing means, means responsive to the passage of an article along said ramp for rendering inoperative said cable moving means, and stop means constituting an obstacle to the passage ofarticles along said ramp, saidstop means being responsive to said coin controlled mechanism.

8. In dispensing apparatus, in combination, a casing, a ramp within said casing, moving means for positively moving articles downwardly along said ramp, motive means, i coin controlled mechanism said motive means to said moving means, said coin controlled mechanism including a coin receiving cage and stop means cooperating with said cage and coin carried thereby for preventing reverse movement of said motive means until after said motive means has been turned through a predetermined distance in a direction to connect said motive means to said moving means.

9. In dispensing apparatus,'-the combination of a casing-delivery apparatus including a pusher disposed in said'casing for dispensingthe contents thereof, means for operating said delivery apparatus including'a cable connected thereto, anda Windlass for operating the cable, means for imparting motion to said ope-ratingmeans, a clutch for connecting said operating, means and saidlast named means, means for controlling said clutch through a token dropped into the apparatus, and means for positively maintainingrsaid clutch inoperative position until a dispensing function has been performed.

10. In dispensing apparatus, the combinationof a casing, article holding means disposed in said casing, article receiving means in communication with said holding means for receiving dispensed articles, a movable member'in said'article-holding means and oooperable with the articles to be dispensed for moving said articles intosaid receivingmeans, means for moving said movable member including rotatable members, a normally disconnected clutch for connecting said members, coin operated mechanism for connecting said clutch, said mechanism including a coin receiving member, means adjacent said receiving means for ticle dispensing, a connection operable by a coin in'said coin receiving: member for'permitting operation of saidlast named means,

a member operated by said connection for connecting said clutch, a member movable by f for connecting connected to said disengaged clutch normally preventing are a said last named member tocause declutching.

ramp, a crank, coin controlled clutch mechanism for connecting said crank to said pushing means, and means including a bell crank lever operative responsive to the delivery of one of said articles from sald apparatus for interrupting the operative connection bee tween said clutch and said crank, a star wheel for preventing the unauthorized delivery of bottles from said apparatus and a stop lever operated responsive to an operation of said .coin controlled mechanism for governing said star Wheel. 12. In a cooling and dispensing apparatus, a casing, a ramp disposed in said casing,

pushing means cooperatively associated with said an endlesscable mounted on pulwindlass, said endless cable being pushing means, a normally a bell crank adapted to operate saidclutch, and coin controlled mech ramp, leys and a 31118111 for operating said bell crank lever to connect said clutch in operative relationship means. y

with said cable moving I 13. A coin controlled mechanism for dispensing article holding means, a device for governing the delivery of articles from'said holding means, a normally disengaged clutch mountpparatus having, in combination,

ed on a shaft and operable by a crank, a lever operated responsive to the insertion of a coin for releasing said device to permit one article to be dispensed, a bell crank resiliently connected to said first named lever and operable to engage said clutch, a'latch engaging said first named lever for holding it in its operated position until an article has been i dispensed and trip means for releasing said latch upon delivery of the article.

Signed at Ohio go, Illinois, this 21stday of August, 1926.

WILLIAM ERICKBIHL. AXEL RAMCLAU.

' operation of said connection to maintain said I 

